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Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir was born in Chernovtsi (now Chernivtsi), Ukrainian SSR, on September 6, 1968. His family immigrated to Israel in 1972. His father, Alexander "Sasha", was an English teacher, his mother Malka, a German teacher. His maternal grandfather Meshulem Surkis was a Yiddish writer, journalist, actor, and a theater critic, a well known activist in the Yiddish cultural world.

His road to Hollywood was circuitous at best. While serving in the Israeli military, he participated in the then clandestine mission to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. His military experience and expertise has been tapped for various TV and film roles. After completing his stint in the Military, Ivanir turned down several job offers from Israel's Secret Service, and gave up studying medicine to pursue a higher vocation-clowning. He completed two years in a Circus school, traveled throughout Europe performing on the streets, and ended up working in a Parisian Circus. After leaving the circus, Mark entered into formal theatrical training, studying at Israel's top acting school Nissan Nativ, later co-founding a theatre company made up of actors from the former USSR called Gesher Theatre.

Within two years, Gesher became Israel's top theatrical outfit and was hailed by the London Times as "one of the six best theatre companies in the world." Mark performed many different roles, translated and adapted eight plays for the company and performed everywhere from Lincoln Center to the National Theatre in London as well as major stages in Paris, Rome, and Berlin.

After being cast by Spielberg in Schindler's List, Ivanir moved to London to study with Philippe Gaulier and the actors of the Theater De Complicite. During this stint, he landed roles in The Man Who Cried (with Johnny Depp) and A Secret Affair which encouraged him to relocate to Hollywood. Tapping his command of Russian, English, French, Arabic, German and Hebrew, Mark has been working consistently in major studio film and television projects in eclectic roles spanning from a Russian spy to an Israeli producer to a German elephant trainer. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.